Author Archives: Tricia

All policy is local

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Tricia

First published in theSun here, on 29 January 2015. EARLIER this week, the PAS president’s statement that local council elections would eventually lead to racial riots raised ire among civil society, as well as members of his own coalition party member, … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethno-Religious Politics, Federalism, Public Administration | Leave a comment

Oil and a more open budget

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Tricia

(First published in the Edge Malaysia on 12 January 2015, here). THE budget department of the Malaysian Treasury could be spooked by the current low price of crude oil that has fallen by almost half since Budget 2015 was announced, … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Oil and Gas, Public Administration, Transparency and Good Governance | Leave a comment

Where values begin

Posted on January 10, 2015 by Tricia

(First published in theSun on 8 January 2015, here). FOR all of our technical analysis of how to improve such-and-such a public policy, the most current of which being the deforestation decisions that may have contributed largely to the flood disaster, … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Society, Ethno-Religious Politics, Liberalism, Philosophy, Religion, The Cause | Leave a comment

Moderates break their silence

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Tricia

(First published in theSun on 12 December 2014, here). ABOLISHING the Sedition Act would not quite result in madness and mayhem, as some would have us believe, but in the likes of towering Malaysians standing up against supremacist NGOs. Earlier this … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Society, Ethno-Religious Politics, General Politics, Religion | Leave a comment

A freedom conversation

Posted on November 30, 2014 by Tricia

(First published in theSun on 28 November 2014, here). MEETING people for the first time, I am often asked what a think-tank is. This is followed by a question on how it is that a classical liberal think-tank can exist in … Continue reading →

Posted in General Politics, Human Rights, Liberalism, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Support the sharing economy

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Tricia

(first published in theSun on 12 November 2014, here). UBER – the increasingly popular ride-sharing mobile app that has riled up local authorities – has not only been controversial in Malaysia, but also in the Philippines, Australia, Germany and many others. … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Public Administration | Leave a comment

Opening up government

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Tricia

(First published in theSun on 29 October 2014, here). LAST week, IDEAS hosted a workshop to promote the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a tool currently being adopted by 64 countries around the world that signifies a government’s commitment to greater transparency … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Society, Public Administration | Leave a comment

Paying it backward

Posted on October 20, 2014 by Tricia

(first appeared in theSun on 15 October 2014, here). AMIDST the media frenzy that surrounds the budget each year, not many pay attention to the supplementary budgets. Did you know that the government spends billions of ringgit that is outside the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Public Administration | Leave a comment

Govt and civil society: The gap widens

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Tricia

First published in theSun here, on 26 September 2014. AN Asian civil society summit I attended in Jakarta recently discussed the oftentimes tenuous relationship between government and civil society in countries within the region. Civil society in many of our neighbouring … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Society, Human Rights, Public Administration | Leave a comment

Making voluntarism legal

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Tricia

First published in theSun here, on 5 September 2014. I SPENT the Merdeka weekend writing a paper on the choppy relationship between the Barisan Nasional-led federal and Pakatan Rakyat-led state governments. I traced the brief history since 2008 of the many … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Society, Crime, Federalism, General Politics, Public Administration | Leave a comment